(Newswire.net — September 23, 2014) — Erik Prince, Founder of the Blackwater said in front of the conservative group Maverick PAC that his infamous private military firm – synonymous with the contracting bonanza that ensued after the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 – would have effectively fought Islamic State (known as ISIS or ISIL), allowing the US to hold back its military in its offensive against the group’s strongholds in Iraq and Syria.
“It’s a shame the [Obama] administration crushed my old business, because as a private organization, we could’ve solved the boots-on-the-ground issue, we could have had contracts from people that want to go there as contractors; you don’t have the argument of US active duty going back in there,” Prince said during the discussion with retired four-star Gen. James Conway. “[They could have] gone in there and done it, and be done, and not have a long, protracted political mess that I predict will ensue.”
However, Bild am Sonntag, the largest-selling Sunday newspaper in Germany, reported the presence of 400 mercenaries from the company were operating in Ukraine. The report followed an announcement in early May that the CIA and FBI are in the country assisting the regime.
Former CNN Intelligence Correspondent and current Vice President at Academi, Suzanne Kelly, told the German news website her company does not have personnel in Ukraine and does not plan to send any. She characterized media reports linking Academi to Blackwater as “incredibly irresponsible.”
After the Nisour Square killings and other scandals, the Obama administration eventually severed most ties with Blackwater – now known as Academi after several rebranding attempts.
Yet despite criticism for the organization from the administration, more than half a billion dollars has been set aside for the firm and its associated entities since President Obama took office in 2009.
Nearly two weeks ago, President Obama said the US would conduct airstrikes and “hunt down” the fighters of the Islamic State jihadist group in Iraq, Syria, and “wherever they exist.” Washington has promised $500 million to so-called “moderate” Syrian rebels for fighting both the Syrian government and Islamic State militants.
Former Navy SEAL Prince then left for Abu Dhabi to continue security contracting work, vowing to never work for the US government after being spurned by the new presidential administration.
Prince’s comments were made almost exactly seven years after Blackwater guards infamously shot and killed 17 Iraqi civilians at Baghdad’s Nisour Square in 2007. The incident sparked outrage with American presence in Iraq among the local population. The US is currently trying to prosecute four of the five guards involved in the incident after a first failed attempt to do it in 2009. After 10 weeks of arguments and testimony, the case went to a jury earlier this month.